Gamethread: Pirates begin interleague series against A's

Bartolo Colon faces Jeff Locke at 7:05.

I'm posting this a bit early, so the lineups aren't out yet, but the Athletics' will likely feature second baseman Grant Green, making a big-league debut that for some reason seems to be a big deal to A's fans. Green is actually the player I wanted the Pirates to take in 2009 instead of Tony Sanchez, which shows what I know -- Green wasn't especially impressive in the minors, at least not until this year. The Pirates were picking No. 4, and Green fell all the way to No. 13, which shows how little difference there seemed to be in that draft after the first couple of picks. Sanchez was an overdraft, but the Bucs weren't really in an enviable position in that draft.

Anyway, the A's called Green up in part, it would seem, because the Pirates are starting two lefties in Locke and Francisco Liriano in this series.